Machines, including land vehicles and water crafts are typically equipped with horns so that drivers/operators can alarm or signal others when necessary.
In a conventional car for example, horn actuators are located on the center hub of the steering wheel, such as that disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,482, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Horn actuators are also known to be located on the spoke of the steering wheel, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,844, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In urgent situations where the driver needs to sound the horn immediately, there is often very little reaction time to move one's hand to press the center hub or horn buttons on the spoke of the steering wheel.
There have been attempts to provide easier and quicker ways to sound a horn. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,844, an enlarged horn button overlay is provided to couple over existing horn buttons, so as to provide a larger horn button.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,946,869, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, a flexible tube embedded with fluid material is provided all around the steering wheel such that when squeezed, the terminal ends of the flexible tube expands, thereby making electrical contact to sound the horn. This mechanism, however, is prone to causing false alarms.
Thus, there is still a need for steering wheels or any controller handle for a machine to have quick access to sounding a horn.
All referenced patents, applications and literatures are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Although the present disclosure may obviate one or more of the above-mentioned desires, it should be understood that some aspects of the disclosure may not necessarily obviate them.